I haven´t written in a really long time! But, last week was kind of hectic as I was preparing for the arrival of my parents!! Highlights from the week included another presentation for my volunteer job, watching the last debate at the American bar, seeing Mama Mia with all my favorite friends followed by Dove Vai, and touring Lima downtown, the Iglesia de San Francisco, and the Art Museum with one of my Peruvian friends Friday afternoon. Lynn and Chuck arrived in Lima after midnight on Friday night, and I went to pick them up after watching a dance performance at Larcomar. My friends had gone to my favorite club (10 soles or $3.33 for all you can drink), but I went to the airport, even though I told my parents a taxi driver would pick them up. Saying they were really happy to see me would be an understatement.
The next morning I met my parents at their hotel and they got to meet one of my Peruvian friends. Right afterwards. I took them on a walking tour of Miraflores because it´s my neighborhood and a really unoverwhelming way to start getting to know Lima. We explored Parque Kennedy, then walked to Larcomar to see the mall and look out at the ocean, then walked to Parque del Amor, and finally had lunch at Rosa Nautica. It was such a beautiful day to walk! And, lunch was so delicious (I´ve been wanting to go there for a long time because it´s probably the best restaurant in Perú) and equally beautiful because the restaurant is on a pier in the ocean. After resting for a little, we went to a peña my host family recommended with Stephanie, my hostpops, and my host sister Carla. The DJ welcomed everyone, and my Mom sang Oh When The Saints Go Marching In to represent the USA. The first dance performances were really good, and everyone in enjoyed them! Then, this terrible and terribly old singing group performed and wouldn´t get off the stage. Some people were loving it, and my hostpops informed me that they were really popular when he was in college. We didn´t get to see everything because they go so late, but my parents stayed awake until 2am!
On Sunday I let my parents sleep in to catch up from the night before. Then I took them to Crepes and Waffles (one of my favorite restaurants) to meet Stephanie and some of my other friends (they also had stuff from the US to give some of my friends). We had wanted to see a bull fight in the afternoon, but they don´t begin until November this year. We went to see some ruins in my neighborhood called Huaca Pucllana because my Mom told me my Dad was slightly bored from the day before, which was disappointing to hear because I tried to show them my neighborhood without anything to crazy, but he loved the ruins and it was my first time there, too. Then, we went to the Indian craft market that I love so much. I was planning on waiting to do this later, but Lynn kept wandering into all of the stores we saw and I kept insisting we could get everything cheaper! I think we all loved this. Dad got a really nice alpaca sweater. Mom got a cute little pin and some alpaca scarves. I think I made out the best because I got a Perú jacket, an alpaca teddy bear, and gifts for most of my friends (and my parents can transport this home). Once it got dark, we headed to the Fountain Park. It was much more crowded this time, and there were lots of kids who ran through the fountains not caring if they got wet (unlike Mom who told me I looked wilted when I got slightly splashed) and lots of people making out on the benches.
Monday morning I had class, so my parents met me afterwards at the university to see my school. It´s really ugly and I don´t know my way around that well, so there wasn´t that much to see. I took them for fruit salads at Arbolito with Stephanie (of course), my restaurant of choice by school because they have the best fruit salads I´ve ever had. Then, I put them in a taxi to the Zoo while I went to my second class. Incidentally, Stephanie and I were the only ones who came to my Spanish class, but we worked on our final project by giving the same survey we gave to the students in San Juan de Lurigancho for whom we do our volunteer presentations to younger students at our university. At first, it was really terrible approaching students and we made our professor Luis do all of the work, but then we got used to it and really enjoyed reading the results. It will be a great final project. Anyway, after class, Stephanie and I picked my parents up from the Zoo and took them to our volunteer job (the office not the clinic). I felt really bad making my parents wait for me while I had a meeting because I could tell they were so bored, but it´s really hard to just stop everything I normally do, and they got to meet my boss that I love. Afterwards, Stephanie and I took them to Polvos Azules. Chuck was like a kid in a candy shop and got all the Star Wars DVDs for $1 each (which I hope he can manage to smuggle into the US) because he couldn´t remember which he had on DVD and which he had on video tape. They also each got a lot of Lacoste polo shirts- the factory is here in Perú, so the defects (which for the most part don´t have noticeable defects) go to Polvos and are sold for 20 soles or $6.66. I casually added a few things to their piles.
Monday night we had dinner at my host family´s house, and it was the nicest night I could have imagined. Mirza prepared all of my favorite food!- chicken, rice, and quite possibly the best beans I´ve had to date. They also got me the same cake I had for my birthday. Everyone talked and got along really well despite some language barriers. My parents asked me host family a lot of questions, and I learned so much about them! And my host family said so many good things about me I really felt like part of the family. My parents also brought a ton of gifts for everyone- a cookbook for Mirza which I hope she liked because she is so good to me and knows my eating habits better than anyone, a puzzle for my host sisters because that´s what we did when I brought and we did together when I first arrived in Lima, Guess Who for my nephew which he assembled and began to play at the dinner table, and Tastykakes for all of the family to enjoy. They also brought me a lot of food (mostly bagels and Auntie Anne´s macaroni and cheese), so I imagine my host family will dip into that. Anyway, after the night I love my host family even more than I did before because they worked so hard to make a nice dinner and have been really nice to my parents.
Today I went to my parents´ hotel in the late morning. We were all tired again, and I had some schoolwork to do. Luckily, my group meeting that I usually have Tuesdays before class was canceled, so I didn´t have to prepare for that. Instead, I got my eyebrows waxed because my Mom informed me I needed some spa treatments. When I got to the hotel, my Dad wasn´t there beacuse he had gone exploring Lima downtown alone. A little over an hour later he came back in one piece reporting that he had gone to see the Iglesia de San Francisco and the Catacumbes, the Plaza de San Martin, and a changing of the guards ceremoy and took cabs successfully. We then went to one of the best Chifas in Perú so my parents could try Peruvian Chinese food, but I don´t think they enjoyed in that much, which is disappointing because it´s so popular here. We didn´t really have a plan for the afternoon, so I took my Dad to buy his bus ticket to Trujillo, which was so much more agonzing that I expected, even though I should have expected it because it´s always a painstaking process. After that ordeal, I didn´t have too much time before class, so I took them to Dove Vai (which they enjoyed, of course), and pointed them in the direction of the Mirabus. While I was in class they did a bus tour of historic Lima, Miraflores, Barranco, and Chorillos, so hopefully they enjoyed that.
Tomorrow my parents are on their own because Wednesday is always my busy day since I have two classes in a row then volunteering at the clinic. I´m hoping they get to check out the gold museum, and I think my hostpops made plans to take them to lunch at the country club on the beach. I´m nervous about them taking taxis and getting around without me, but hopefully everything will work out. I have to meet them at the airport to catch our flight to the beach at 7:50, and hopefully we´ll both get there okay! (I´m nervous about the time crunch for me and the taxi process for my parents). But, I´m really looking forward to some warm weather and a nice relaxing trip, even though I´ll be a little worried about my homework and making sure everything goes okay for my parents. Now, I must pack my suitcase, and this is turning into a much later night than I wanted.
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